Niles IC2 IntelliControl Remote

 

In a bold move, Niles have designed their new remote without any kind of display, let alone a touchscreen. But perhaps that’s no bad thing. One of the biggest issues with touchscreen remotes is the complete lack of any tactile feedback that allows users to “feel” their way.

“At CEDIA, Niles will introduce the next-gen IntelliControl, the IC2. “What we heard from dealers is, ‘Wake up, we still sell this because we have aging customers and they don’t want touchscreens,’” says Mike Detmer, vice president of sales and marketing for Niles. “‘They want buttons. But could you make the buttons a little bigger?’”

The IC2 maintains the simplicity of the original IntelliControl, but with a more modern-day form factor and feature set. Niles stuck with the hard-button theme, but rearranged the layout to accommodate new sources such as TiVo—a product category unheard of back in the early days of IntelliControl.

The IC2 remote communicates with the “main system unit,” the HT-MSU, which features eight outputs for either IR or RS-232 control.

The company also improved the radio in the IC2, opting for ZigBee technology, which is at the heart of the company’s wildly popular ICS control system. Because the RF technology is based on ZigBee, theoretically it could control other ZigBee products in the Niles line, but at this point such cross-communication is not supported.

Using the IC2’s wizard, dealers can program an IC2 system in 10 minutes, Detmer says.

“We know we’re going to sell a bunch of them,” he adds. “It’s mostly a home theater controller for people like me who just want to push a button.”

The IC2 and HT-MSU will retail for $999. ”

nilesaudio.com  [Via cepro.com]

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